How should schools handle it -- should parents be notified by the school?

Waukee School District just implemented a new policy that some parents say doesn't do enough.

Wendy Marsh is a mom with children in the Waukee School District. She said she knows what it's like to treat head lice in children.

"My daughter has had it three times in six months. This fall my son had it. I have yet to get a single notice about it," said Marsh.

She and hundreds of parents signed a petition given to the Waukee School District on Sept. 10, asking they be notified if a student has lice.

Tuesday, the school said it will provide more information to parents.

"We will address the issue by creating a health link for each building on our website. This is where we will post various alerts, including head lice," read a statement from the school district.

Marsh said she would prefer the school send out emails.

"It still requiring parents to go to the website, and click on links to try to find the info that the school could provide easily with one email," said Marsh.

Many schools like Waukee follow procedures set by the state health department when dealing with lice. The procedures don't require parents to be notified when a case is found in their children's school.

"It's not life or death, lice don't carry disease. It's more of the itch factor," said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, epidemiologist for the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Quinlisk said the state follows recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control.

"Most children who get lice don't get it at school. They get it in the community, so to do things at school doesn't hit where the problem is," said Quinlisk.

But Quinlisk said that if the school has evidence lice is being spread in a classroom, parents should be warned.

Even with the Waukee district's new policy to put alerts on its website, moms said they'll still rely on word of mouth.

"I'm hoping they'll change their mind, send out lice notification but if they refuse, I'll work to get info out to other parents as much as possible," said Marsh.

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